The Monitor., 1887-09-02
PARENTS OF POORLY BRED
CHILDREN.

There must be some way to explain the
presence of so many poorly raised children.
Somebody must bear the blame. The
children are not responsible for their con-
duct before they come to the years Of dis
cretion, yet the majority of them are very
far from what they ought to be. Those
who profess to know wherefore they speak
say that children learn all they know
either by seeing or hearing. Their reason
ing powers are so weak that very few of
their ideas are deduced from distinct, sep
arate propositions or premises. This is
probably true, therefore it must be CON
eluded that their examples have been bad
1t may not be out of place to call atten-
tion to the subject that was recently under
discussion heredity. There it was shown
quite clearly that child may inherit a
diathesis; that is, tendency toward the
same constitutional diseases, mental dispo-
sition, or physical characteristics of it's
parents. Indeed, this is so well settled
that it is unnecessary to more than call at
tention to it. There is a very important
phase of this subject, however, that has
not been discussed thoroughly, and one
that comparatively few persons, otherwise
well informed, know anything about.
Perfectly healthy parents, that is, parents
without any constitutional or inherited di-
seases, may have delicate, worthless child
ren. There are so many instances of this
that no observant person will question
this statement for moment. The sons of
highly respectable man may turn out to
rakes or drunkards. The daughters of
mothers who are regarded in the commu-
nifty as models, grow up to be giddy, weak
and worthless.
The law seems to be that diathesis may
be inherited from habit as well as from
a constitutional disease in the parent For
instance: A child may inherit the dispo-
sition to make money, to trade, or to spec
ulate from the habits of its father, who
was driven by necessity to speculating and
trading. The father may not have had a
natural taste for these, and only resorted
to them for lack of opportunity to make a
living in some more congenial way. The
mere taste on the part of the mother for
music, or rather the enjoyment afforded
by the singing or playing OF others, may
develop a strongly marked taste for music
in her children. There are many instances
where the parents of musicians of note
could neither sing nor play, and probably
only one of them had an ear for music.
Instances illustrative of this phase of the
law of heredity might be multiplied until
they filed the column, but you are proba-
bly, aware of great many within your own
circle of acquaintances.
OF all the habits that may affect child
ren permanently none are more potent and
more certain than the drinking habit. A
man need not be a drunkard nor an habit
ual drinker in order to transmit to his pos
terity disposition to drink and the incii-
nation to seek stimulants. The first man
Hesitation Of the disorder is craving for
excitement. The nature of the excitement
idlHtll Ou tuG bHEbtS anu
surroundings of the victim, for victim he
is doomed to be. When childish games
cease to afford the necessary excitement he
naturally turns to base ball, horse races
and probably gambling. Alcoholic stimu-
lants are found to answer the same pur-
pose as the excitements he has been used
to- and he becomes drinker
This craving for excitement leads girls
to flirting, coquetting and fast ways. All,
or nearly all, abandoned women despise
the lives they lead, and only continue
i'll them because of the excitement afforded
by their reyels, the wine and the gaudy
tinsel with which they are bedecked. They
could readily have inherited this disposi-
ton from fathers who boasted that they
could take drink or let it alone; or from
mothers who found relief in glass of
toddy when they had the blues.
Did you ever think of this phase of the
question? or did it ever occur to you that
majority of the abandoned men and wo-
men have come honestly by their unfortu-
nate tastes and dispositions? Do strong,
healthy parents ever think that theirsocial
or domestic habits have given to their
children delicate bodies and depraved
tastes? These are not merely possibilities,
but probabilities. Indeed, they have al
most been lifted from the plano of proba-
bility into the realm of fact. The drunk
ard, the tippler, the sport, the profane, the
vulgar or the cruel parent need not be dis
appointed if his sons anG daughters devel-
op deep-seated moral sores from his indul-
gences, which he may consider trifling.
The fl irt, the gossip, tattler or the lazy
parent must not be surprised if her child
rem are permanently afflicted by reason OF
her habits 81 Patsburg Dispatch.
Make a compost heap upon which to
place the refuse of the farm, such as tops
of vegetables that are not fed to stock, the
rakings and leaves, and add proportion
of manure occasionally. Upon the heap
throw soapsuds, urine and other liquids,
care being taken to have all material cut